#*rivalmance

[dathomirdumpsterfire]

[rosella-writes]

solavellan rivalmance things

since I'm replaying Virelan's file and she and Solas are actively hostile to one another in Haven, I thought I'd write up my idea of how it'd go if the da2 rivalmance system stayed in place and was better

the only two elves at the heart of chantry forces in the middle of a mage rebellion for how long? surrounded by people who assume they'd get along by nature of their matching ears? just adds insult to injury that Varric jokes about their conflict from the very first instant they speak (they're not Fenris and Merrill, Varric, please I'm begging)

they're drawn together by familiarity that's on this side of wrong, more willing to sit together and fight than be alone and at peace

the nights grow longer and so do their arguments, which turn into debates, which turn into stories, until it's almost dawn and neither of them have slept

Lavellan calls him 'flat ear' — he curses them in elvhen so old that their Dalish dialect can't parse it apart

Lavellan clings to Dalish tradition and prays the prayers every morning in camp, just to spy Solas regarding them with something like pity, or grief

he corrects their elvhen pronunciation and grammar — they call him 'hahren (derogatory)'

"I saw it in the —" "Elgar'nan, we know!"

Lavellan dismisses blood magic as evil and spirits as non-persons but they keep asking questions, more and more questions, and Solas isn't sure if they're asking because they're curious or because they want to mock him

he doesn't stop answering though

Lavellan notices at first that he only looks at their vallaslin when he speaks to them... and by the time they close the Breach, he glares into their eyes

Lavellan protects him, like they promised, and they shout at him to be more careful

Solas heals their wounds and scolds them under his breath… but it sounds suspiciously like worry

Lavellan tells Solas to go when Corypheus attacks Haven, pushes him towards the Pilgrim’s Path and doesn’t let him follow as they distract the dragon alone

He searches for them in the snow in the aftermath, a mournful, enraged wolf howling in the storm — why could they not have listened?

Lavellan’s alive

The sensible choice is to lead them to his home, his heart, where he held the sky back — he feels it too as Skyhold falls in love with Lavellan and their Inquisition

They find him in a dream, and things are easier for him in the Fade

“You’re the one who started with tongue” “I did no such thing!”

I mean I could go on lol

[adoriels-tears-if]

After MC calls Tobias his father, he smugly approaches Arthur and sticks out his tongue at him.

I guess they can be friends now🤷

Arthur rolls his eyes, his lips pulling up slightly. "Brat." 🙄😏

[clairedelune-13]

Solas deserved to be Rivalmanced.

That’d be hot.

[dearest-and-nearest]

Abomination and Apostate

[scarfacemarston]

Jwisjsksksk you’re literally one of my fave character analysts so when you opened request for fenris i was excited cause I MISS HIM AND NOBODY TALKS ABOUT HIM THAT MUCH ANYMORE 😭. I dont know if you have played the rival route for him but if you have then do you have any ideas how him and hawke would be after the game is over if hawke has a rivalmance with him instead of friendmance? (Coming from someone whose hawke is a mage and rivalmance is not abusive but just opposing to some of his ideas ofc!!)

OMG thank you so much! That's such an honor! And hell yeah, I love Fenris. I may be suppppperrrr late to the fandom, but I'm here nonetheless! He's legit my favorite character in the series so feel free to ask more about him or send requests! For your question: So, I think this partially depends on what Hawke did with Anders. Did they let him go? Kill him? I think that would make a difference. I definitely think there would be an element of “I told you so” with Fenris. Fenris is more of an “I warned you about this” rather than an “I told you so” type of guy, in my opinion. I believe he would attempt to hold his tongue, especially if Hawke is especially heartbroken - which is understandable, but if he felt Hawke could handle it - he would try to discuss it.

If Anders is left alive, I absolutely believe there would be an argument with Fenris warning that there would be only grief in the future because of that decision. (Whether that’s true or not depends on your headcanons for what an Anders kept alive would be like. Regardless,I do believe there would be some tragedy involved given the situation.)

If Hawke kills Anders, I think he would try to comfort Hawke and praise them for doing the “right thing”. Regardless, it would be a time of tension in the relationship, but Rivalmance Fenhawke CAN be just as loving and loyal as Friendmance Fenhawke. At that point, their bond is like steel and Fenris is nothing if not loyal. He loves Hawke and shows it in so many ways. Outside of the discussions about magic, their relationship could be just as pleasant - just with the same uncertainty or slight tension that can come from challenging one’s life’s beliefs. I think Fenris would regress in some of his progress of becoming more pro-mage in a rivalmance, especially if they’re together by the time the Inquisition comes around. He would be very concerned about the situation with Fiona and the Circles and rebellions. However, that is years later. By that point, it is entirely possible that he could be more neutral in his beliefs, with doubts popping up in moments of conflict.

TLDR - There would be a lot of tension - likely some fighting and strong debates, but their love and respect for one another would pull through as long as both put the effort into it.

[inquisimer]

the house is slowly on fire

@febuwhump day 15 - "who did this to you?"

Terribly injured, Anders returns to Neria at the clinic.

read it on ao3 here

Anders & Female Surana | Rated M | 1380 words | CW: beating, physical abuse, blood & injury, injury recovery, unhealthy relationships

-

The midnight oil burned in the Darktown clinic, at Neria’s hands for once. Without Anders around she’d doused the lantern outside and settled into her workstation, strewn with various herbs and mixing agents. She’d nearly sorted this healing poultice—if she could just remember what Leorah used to say about ratios.

The door creaked softly and a bit of unconscious tension bled from Neria’s shoulders. She hadn’t been worried, exactly, but it wasn’t like Anders to stay away from the clinic so long or so late, even when Hawke dragged him off on asinine errands.

“Where’d you lot get off to this time?” she called without looking up. Two droppers of lotus extract, added before the embrium pollen—

“Nowhere pleasant.” Anders rasped. His words dropped low and weary between them, heavier and rougher than the usual exhaustion. Neria’s worry returned full force. She glanced over her shoulder and promptly dropped the elfroot she’d tucked between her teeth.

“Maker’s tits.” She darted from her workstation to the door, where Anders had propped himself against the frame for support. As she came to his side, he let go of his staff. It clattered to the ground and the pair of them followed, Neria gathering him in her arms and cradling his head in her lap.

Blood matted along his hairline, still seeping from a nasty looking gash on his forehead. One of his eyes was nearly swollen shut and from there down to cracked lips his skin shone the bright red of still-forming bruises. His robes were torn and slashed and through the damage she saw yet more welts and contusions.

Tenderly, ever so gently, Neria cupped his cheek and ghosted a sliver of healing magic over a profusely bleeding cut. The calm, deadly rage she reserved for people who hurt her dearest friends darkened her eyes.

“Anders,” she said, once she unclenched her jaw and found words more coherent than obscene anger, “who did this to you?”

His lip bulged as he ran his tongue over his teeth; when he answered her, they were smeared with blood.

“Templars. Who else?”

Neria’s anger simmered, her eyes narrowing further. “And just how did you end up at the mercy of the Templars, when you left here with Hawke?”

“It’s not her fault—“

“Like ass it isn’t!” Neria forced her hands not to clench, cupped on his wounded face as they were. Her jaw had no such limitation though, and she ground her teeth together, furious breath hissing out of her nose. “She’s supposed to be looking out for you. Helping you. Keeping the Templars off your tail. Otherwise what’s the point of her? What’s the point of all the mages we’ve had to smuggle out because she sent them back to the Circle?”

“It was my fault,” he muttered. “We were in the Gallows. I…provoked her.”

In the process of knitting the wound on his temple back together, Neria’s hands froze. “She left you. In the Gallows?”

Anders cringed, then winced for how it pulled at his wounds. Deftly smoothing the icy healing in her palm over his head, Neria pushed at his shoulder and he sat up.

“She would be as pissed as you if she saw the state of me right now.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“She hates it when I’m injured and you know it,” he grumbled. “‘who’ll heal the healer’ and all that nonsense.”

“Well she should have thought about that before she left you in the bloody Gallows!”

“She just—I shouldn’t have said anything, it was supposed to be a quick errand, we were all tapped from fighting Qunari out on the Coast—“

“Shut up. Just—shut up.” Neria traced her thumb over his injured eye and the swelling receded. It was still a bit hazy, but when he blinked a few times he could see well enough out of it.

“I can’t listen to you defend her,” Neria’s voice cracked and she gingerly leaned her forehead against his. “Maker, wisp, look at you.”

“Kind of short on nice looking glasses at the moment, actually, so—“

Her eyes snapped open, glittering harsh like diamonds. “She could have prevented this, Anders. She should have.”

He frowned. “No, I should have known better than to say anything while we were there.”

“Stop blaming yourself! You’ve been beaten half to paste and had to drag yourself back to Darktown. This is not your fault!”

“Her influence is probably the only reason I was allowed to leave, Ria.”

“I don’t give a flying fuck,” Neria snapped. She fetched a jar of bruise balm and stripped away his armored coat and ruined tunic. A few more passes of healing magic eased wounds where steel boots and bladed gauntlets had pierced his skin. She scooped out a liberal amount of the balm and began working it into the injured muscles. He hissed and winced.

“Sorry, sorry,” she muttered, but he waved her off.

“It’s certainly not your fault,” he said with a humorless laugh. Neria glared at the back of his neck.

“I should have gone with you.”

“No. You don’t go near the Gallows, for good reason.” He gripped her thigh and squeezed. “It’s not safe, not for you.”

“Apparently not for you, either.”

He opened his mouth, she hooked a finger in his cheek before he spoke. “If you say ‘it was my fault’ one more time, I will leave you here and go put a dagger through your lover’s neck. Hush.”

He managed a sheepish grin, which was annoying but a good sign. With a sigh, Neria set the bruise balm aside and sent waves of gentle, warm air over his skin to dry it.

“Can you stand, if I help you?”

“Ah—“ He grabbed the back of his neck and glanced down at his boots. “I’m not sure. My ankle might be twisted.”

Neria glowered as she knelt at his feet. She cut the blood-soaked leather away—there was no saving it now—and probed the tender joint. As her mana soaked into his skin, she felt the throbbing beat of pain and the thin but unmistakable crack in the bone.

“Twisted?” she said flatly. “Broken. You idiot, you walked here?”

“It was more of a hobble, really.”

She didn’t ask why he hadn’t heal himself. Of the numerous possibilities, none were pleasant enough to keep her from snapping. And if she snapped, she would march straight up to Hightown and beat Hawke bloody with her staff.

Neria pursed her lips. They’d nearly exceeded the amount of healing magic a body could handle, particularly one as malnourished and stressed as Anders’. Still, she couldn’t very well leave this or the bone would heal wrong. Watching his eyes carefully for signs of arcane shock, she pressed just enough healing into his ankle to coax the bone straight back together. It was delicate, focused work and she huffed a sigh of relief when she finished.

“That’s enough, Ria,” Anders said, catching her wrist when she reached for his other boot. “Don’t exhaust yourself. Not for me.”

“Well someone has to take care of your sorry ass,” she muttered. “Since Hawke doesn’t seem so inclined.”

“She doesn’t—“

He fell silent at Neria’s glare.

“Can you stand now?” He nodded. Neria slipped his arm over her shoulders and stood, pulling him along with her. They fit well together like this—always had, even when she stopped growing and he shot up another six inches. Slowly, they made their way to the back room.

She lowered him into the bed, caring not as the congealed blood and dirt smeared over the sheets she’d just changed. Tapping a fire rune to the bottom of the wash basin, she soaked a cloth in warm water and dabbed it gently over his face.

“Sleep,” she murmured. For just a moment, there was a flash of blue in his brown eyes, as if Justice objected to the idea of rest. But Neria stared hard and it faded away. Anders’ hand covered hers and he turned his face to press a soft kiss against her palm.

“Thank you,” he whispered, voice already heavy as he dozed off. Neria swiped a stray bead of water away from his cheek.

“Anything for you, wisp. As you know. Anything for you.”

[moontheoretist]

What if your companion just left you?

Bioware really did like toxicity in 2011 and in later years, don’t you think? Dragon Age 2 is the first game in Dragon Age series that doesn’t tie up your general bad behavior to your companions’ ability to leave the party. If you feed their rivalry and have it high enough or maxed, they will not leave. Companions only leave in very specific or quest related circumstances if not maxed, like for example:

Fenris leaves if you put off his personal quest in Act 2 for too long and tell him to screw off. And in Act 3 you can give him up to Danarius and companions that are with you won’t even protest, won’t fight you, won’t leave you in protest to what you did. Fenris will also leave if you sided with Orsino unless you maxed his friendship or rivalry. He can be persuaded to come back later on, but if you fail, you have to fight him afterwards.

Isabela can leave in Act 2 if your Rivalry or Friendship aren’t high enough. If you have high enough points on either end, she will come back, and you can still give her to Arishok.

Mage companions will leave you if you sided with Templars at the end of the game, unless you had maxed their rivalry or friendship.

If you don’t kill Anders while having the DLC with Sebastian, Sebastian will leave. But it is also at the end of the game.

Anders can leave after dissent if you agree that he should (so he needs your input and approval to do so, won’t do it on his own). He can also leave if you didn’t kill him and let him go, but sided with the Templars. If not maxed, you will have to kill him later on.

All of those technically use Friendship/Rivalry meter, but in the long run it is just the rule of “if you weren’t sufficiently good or awful to them, they will leave”, not the rule of “if you are awful they will leave”. They simply leave if you didn’t pay enough attention and gain enough points on either side, depending on the specific quests. It follows a rule of neglect in either friendship or rivalry. Which is a completely opposite of Origins where gaining -100 approval points with your companions literally meant they will leave you to fend for yourself and fight Archdemon alone as per the rule “you were an awful person that I won’t follow”. What’s more, DA2 keeps it so that if you lose companions, you will never lose all of them. You will still have one tank, one mage and Varric, who stays with you no matter what, at the end in order to be able to finish the game at all. In DAO however, you can end with one companion (Alistair) and fail to kill the Archdemon.

In comparison, the same year as DA2, Bioware released another game: Star Wars: The Old Republic, where in the first 3 chapters of the story you can have DS abusive and toxic romances with your companions. But those can’t leave you AT ALL. You can be an awful slaver that treats Vette poorly and still romance her. And even when you get separated from all of them, they all can still come back to you, they show willingness to come back in some cases, and you can decide if you want them back or not. You can push Jaesa all the way to the Dark Side, and she will come back later and if you don’t take her back, she will be locked out, but you can also kill her there.

You can ofc also have LS romances and ignore DS ones, but if you wanted to romance Jaesa specifically, it is impossible to do so in those first 3 acts if you didn’t play as a man and weren’t pushing her and yourself towards the Dark Side. She is the only companion locked out like this, as her LS romance was only added in 2021.

I can’t stress how much better it would be if in DA2 we got several different romance configurations depending on the amount of rivalry and friendship points we gathered, as well as a rewrite of the rivalry romances to be more like actual rivalry and less like thinly veiled abuse. Rivalry can be healthy. It doesn’t have to be toxic.

Anyway, in comparison to DAO and DA2, Dragon Age Inquisition goes in a complete different direction when it comes to measuring approval. The system technically still exists, but you as a player don’t see the bar, you don’t see your results, you don’t know how many points “approves” gives in comparison to “greatly approves”, so you can’t engineer your romance path in a way that you knew from the previous two games, but that change also kind of simulates dating behavior from real life. In real life, you also don’t know how much someone likes you, and you can only guess how much your date liked something. Still, I can observe a visible trend of “avoiding writing companions as people with principles” which was prevalent in DAO and gradually started to disappear till in DAI the only companions that can leave on their own if they hate you are Blackwall and Cole. Dorian threatens to leave, but still needs to be punched to actually leave, so he needs your direct input for him to do it. The rest won’t unless it was already pre-written (Solas) or were affected by a quest (IronBull can turn against you in DLC if you killed The Chargers). Sera can’t leave, you have to kick her out, which is very out of character for her as a Red Jenny to stick around if you were the most awful person in the world. Cass, Viv, Varric and Bull can hate you and still stay.

Some could say “they can’t leave, because Breach threatens everybody”, but that argument was also true for the Archdemon case. Blight threatened not only Ferelden, but every nation close enough. Having an option to fail was something interesting that taught you how to not play if you wished to finish the game.

The system used in DAO was so far the best. It encouraged you to be friendly with your companions and punished you for being a toxic, abusive asshole that doesn’t care about them. It literally told you that if you want to save the world you need help, because you are not a god, you are not an independent entity that can do everything on their own, that people around you are not only needed but enrich your experience and you as a person if you treat them right.

I wish that system was kept till the end, but it wasn’t.

[pickleforstony]

Fenris rivalmance

[princehendir]

Rivalmance Justice should get a medal for not killing Hawke with his teeth

[camelliagwerm]

Justice does not approve of my obsession with you. He believes you are a distraction.

[dragon-in-a-kettle]

how would you have died in a past life

[clairedelune-13]

Solas low-approval is sexy af. Why can’t we rivalmance him?!?!?!?

[dearest-and-nearest]

Fist meet

[pinayelf]

not a meet-cute but a meet....something...

[dathomirdumpsterfire]

a thousand ish people voted, and 7.5% said obi maul.

now i know you bitches be out there.

hi 💕